Tilt
by Toft8KakashisWife
Summary: Aubrey Johnson has been alone for awhile. But fate hooked her up with a savior who eventually forces her to have a watchful babysitter due to a tragic turn of events. However, Aubrey is more than people suspect her to be, and she comes with some baggage that may destroy what's been built. In place season 3-4 and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

Defiant summer pt.1

A/N: Brief description of the O/C (the story starts in first person and it switches to omn but picture this whenever she speaks/acts/thinks)

Name: Aubrey Johnson

Age: 23

She's shorter than most of the adults, only 5'2 ½ but what she lacks in height, she makes up for in curves. She is toffee complexion, her skin an oddly even tone. Her hair is wild and curly, different shades of black and gray that she usually keeps in a ponytail with her layered bangs over her left eye. She has dark green eyes. Where the story begins, she is wearing baggy sweatpants, a sports bra, and a red/black long-sleeved shirt with a gray hood. Her visible jewelry include a green belly button ring attached to a gold chain that encircled her waist. Her left ear has 2 studs, and her right ear has one small ring. On her neck was a silver band and a thin leather thong entwined in the incisor of a gator tooth.

I never been much of the family type, and now I knew why. Tied down tight to a chair in the middle of some council room in a large prison. Hell, I vaguely remember how I got there; most likely I was knocked out and carried. Last thing I remember was bombrushing a chinese douche who had his gun pointed at the wrong man. My legs were loose, but my wrists were bound to the arms making movement close to impossible. All for smashin' the deserving chinaman's face in. just my luck. I narrowed my eyes as the door opened. The sheriff, the dreadhead black lady with the katana who originally tackled me, and a new addition: a redneck with a crossbow. I felt his gaze linger the longest. I tensed against my bonds as the sheriff approached me first, crouching so that he was eye level; the other two backed him. "What's your name?" he asked softly. "Irritated. Why am I tied up?" I questioned back harshly. To my surprise he chuckled, "You took out a grown man, and you look like a kid. Reason number one. Reason number two, you have no weapons on you and you got some muscle." I merely growled and clenched my jaw shut. He glanced back at the two bodyguards. The dread-head nodded at him, the redneck kept his eyes on me. "Were you alone?" he tried a different approach. I smiled, and witnessed him rock back on his heels. "Nope," came my one word response. Suddenly sheriff's eyebrows drew together and he reached forward. Instinctively, I grimaced and pulled back, but where was I going to go? His fingers gently brushed the mark on my cheek, the perfect circle. I snapped my teeth at him upon contact. "Have you been bitten?" he asked slowly, standing back to his full height. "Yea, a couple times." I scoffed with malice. He suddenly turned stern, "Listen missy, I'm tryin to be civil, but fact of the matter is, we missing one of our own and we need to know what to expect." I shrugged, "Cant tell ya nothing." He glanced at the dread-head who stepped forward, "We don like talking much, you can do this the easy way or the hard way." I smirked at her, "Untie me, an' we can talk all night if ya like." Her hand tightened around the katana. Target. "Nice sword. Wanna practice?" before she could respond, however a younger boy's voice came from the hallway. "Dad!" I closed my eyes and focused on dislocating my wrists. The door opened, I heard whispers. "Man, gun, Maggie, hostage." Target words; let me know the whole situation. A couple faint pops as I pulled my right hand free and began working on my left wrist. When I opened my eyes, there was an arrow in my face, practically touching my nose. Redneck. The redneck's eyes held this wild look, dangerous and reckless. His ice blue eyes were cloudy with undefined emotion and they bore into mine. If we weren't in this position, I think might've fancied him. The sheriff and dreadhead were gone. I didn't stop workin on my binding, even as my right arm ached; I broke the gaze looking down. "Think yer leavin'?" his voice was a thick southern drawl that sounded familiar in the worse way. Another faint pop and I was free. I leaned back and rubbed my wrists, avoiding his gaze and the fact that his weapon was still in my face. "Yea, I mean. Based on the report from the kid, my Calvary finally got here." I stood; his weapon followed me up, "Still think ima threat huh?" I smiled as his gaze dropped from my eyes, to my lips…and then past them. Slowly his crossbow lowered, "Where'd ya get that?" he asked, voice a mixture of confusion, anger and possibly jealousy. I shrugged, "It's the end of the world. Take what I want." Suddenly I was off my feet, he moved so fast I didn't expect it. My back was pressed against the cold stone behind me. He had me by my throat with his forearm, face leaned in close. His eyes were narrow, "You got a purty mouth lil' girl. Answer my question." He had the upper hand in this situation; I wasn't dumb enough to keep playing coy. "It was given to me." I snarled at him, "By who." He pushed in harder, wedging a leg in between mine keeping my thighs separated…making it nearly impossible to breathe. I still managed to crack a smile, "Dude downstairs, who else?" he dropped me. I immediately reached up to touch the two necklaces. One was a silver band, I had similar bands on my right ankle and left wrist. Don't remember getting them put on, never thought about taking them off. The other, the one Redneck Arrow referred to was the leather thong entwined into the incisor of a gator. That one was given to me 2 months prior as my allegiance became settled with the first person I willfully interacted with since the start of the zombie apocalypse. back to the present, Arrow threw his crossbow over his shoulder, grabbed me by the crook of my right arm and proceeded to march me outside. "Lets go." His voice, sharp enough to break skin.

The scene outside looked like a ransom movie. On our side of the gate you see the townspeople, all watching. An older man and younger blond girl wore the gravest expressions. *bet that's her family,* I thought to myself as I was led through the crowd. My eyesight wasn't amazing, but looking past the gate I could see the outline of Merle's body and with him he had a smaller, petite lady-like figure. Arrow's eyesight had to be ten times better than mine as his pace seemed to suddenly falter and his grip weakened a bit. That's when I knew. I groaned with embarrassment. "You must be Daryl." He looked down at me, something like shock in his eyes, but I quickly looked away. "Come on," I muttered, "Looks like he's gettin' pissy drunk just to have a reason ta shoot her and act like he don care." As we approached the gate, I could see the chinaman, red in the face from fear and anger. I presume they were a mated pair. I tried to get out of Daryl's grip, but it was like a vise as the sheriff leaned in close to Daryl, whispering the situation. "Your brother?" Daryl nodded; the sheriff cocked an eyebrow at me before continuing. I noticed the kid from earlier, was a cute brunette. He was knelt with a long rifle, pointed through the fence at Merle. My nose twitched with annoyance, "You aim that thing at him, make sure ya kill him when ya shoot." I warned in a low voice. The chinaman reared at me only to be stopped by the dreadhead. "Daryl, if he hurts her-" before Daryl could say anything, I growled sharply, "Chill out dude, you said he shot in the air. That was to get your attention, guarantee ya the damn gun probably aint even loaded." All eyes went from me to Daryl, some were looking for him to agree with me, but he kept his eyes straight ahead. "Come on." He muttered, tugging me towards him. We proceeded to walk through the gates when again we were stopped by the dread headed female. This time it was he who growled. "Michonne-" "Be careful." Was all she said with a glance at me. I did nothing but smile at her, she clearly had the hots for the redneck and I wasn't in the position or the mood to put that notion in play. Daryl merely nodded stiffly and walked around her, pulling me past her. I winked at her, noticed her clenched jaw and allowed Daryl to steer me past the first row of fences. "When we get to the tall grass, you run." His voice was rough. Maybe it was intentional, maybe natural. But whatever it was, I felt my body heat up with interest. I gave him a mock salute. "Whatever you say Robin Hood." His grip momentarily tightened on my upper arm but I swear I saw a ghost of a smile cross his features as he tugged me again. "Lets go."

** I love Norman Reedus, just in case anyone couldn't figure that out. Chapter 2 reveals how Aubrey and Merle hooked up. please review, gimme whatcha got


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Tilt

_I__t wasn't a scream of fear or pain. It was the scream of defeat: a scream of utter despair, loneliness, and hopelessness. That scream sounding again is what drew Aubrey towards the building: an abandoned sheriff's station…how convenient. At this point during the apocalypse, she was running low on ammo, and sure enough there was plenty of ammo for her CS725, and her .375 Smith and Wesson. Clips. With a smile, she made a holster for her hatchet using left behind leather gun holsters that she tied in a knap-like sack over her back. She'd be decent for a while alone. While she scavenged what was left of the downstairs, the shriek sounded again. Gritting her teeth, making up her mind, she headed towards the roof._

"Girl." Daryl hissed. I snapped back to reality. We were passed the tall grass now and Merle was in full sight. He saw us and smiled at me. I could see the liquor dancing in his eyes. The girl-woman sat looking helpless next to his feet. "The name's Aubrey." I growled towards Daryl, instantly biting my tongue as a group of walkers hobbled from all sides. My gun and hatchet were back at the camp, leaving the only option: run. The younger Daryl didn't seem scared; he merely grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him, towards Merle. "Found somethin' of yers." Daryl's grip tightened as I tried to yank away. Merle grinned at his younger brother and I saw little resemblance. "Ah, see you've finally met." He jeered waving the bottle of Jack Daniels at me. "There'd better be some left." I snarled at him, glaring from him to the woman on the ground that reeked of fear, whether from me or the approaching walkers. She clambered to her feet towards Daryl. This broke his attention from his brother as I kicked at her to cause her to shrivel back towards the ground. "Cut it out girl." Came a no-nonsense tone from both Dixons. Now my eyes were in slits. If I wasn't pissed before, now there were no boundaries towards it. "Take her back to the prison." Came Daryl's voice, his nails now digging into my skin. I blinked, but before I could retaliate or react Merle raised the bottle back to his lips. "Hurry missy or there won't be none left for ya." The woman (who stayed knelt) looked from me to Daryl. "Daryl-" "Glen's worried sick, best not to keep you out here longer than you need to be. This my brother. Fair exchange." Before he could finish his sentence fully a walker approached behind me. I smelled him before the whine of death and decay came from his mouth. I twisted away from Daryl without hesitation and twisted his head hard, breaking his neck. "Let's go princess." I extended my bloodied hand towards the woman, who rose without taking it. "Mah name is Maggie." She replied a little coldly. I could care less. I had to romp back through the tall grass weaponless before I could booze out with my only living friend. Daryl and Merle had most of the walkers' attentions now. I winked at her. "Well Mags, I'm Aubrey. I beat your boyfriend in the face without thinkin twice about it so listen and listen well. When we get to the tall grass, you run. I dunno how your prison works but once we at the gate, you on your own." She merely nodded. I smiled. "Lets go."

_Merle heard the scream. It wasn't one of pain or fear but of hopelessness. The scream sounded again as he pillaged what was left of the small town's bar. It was a girl's scream. Grumbling, he dropped his stash and headed towards the sound. That girl should have been far away by now according to what she said after she busted the handcuffs, freeing him from being trapped on the rooftop. The scream sounded again, and he hastened his step. It came from behind the local grocery store. Checking his Olympia he gritted his teeth to find he only had 4 buck-shots left. Crouching behind several broke down vehicles in the abandoned parking lot, he surveyed the situation. The girl, Aubrey she said her name was, she was tied to a post. There were 3 guys bigger than she, jeering at her. They taunted, one of them was cutting away slowly at her tank-top with her hatchet. She tried snapping her teeth at him, this earned her a slap. "She got fight." One of them laughed, reaching forward grabbing a breast. This earned another strangled cry. Merle felt the hairs on his neck rise. She'd screamed twice before that…what had they touched? Grabbed? Without further thoughts, he raised the shot gun and took aim. _

"So…she save you, you save her. Are ya'll like…" Daryl couldn't bring himself to say the words. Merle took another swig before sloshing the remaining half of the liquor around and capping the bottle. "That fox ain't to be captured by someone like me… never crossed my mind to attempt either." Daryl looked away from his brother and took in his surroundings. The house wasn't too far from the prison, but secluded in a clearing. There were trenches half dug to keep the walkers out, and they were sitting next to a manmade fire-pit surrounded by makeshift log seats. As Merle placed the bottle into the seat beside him, Daryl felt a sting of jealousy. "I been wantin that tooth since I was 12-" "What have you done to deserve it kid?" Merle barked with laughter. "Frankly little brother, the bitch's got more balls than I ever seen on you." Daryl glared through the fire at his older brother who continued to laugh. Now, he was irritated and he rose to go. "Nice seein you again Merle." Click. The laughter suddenly stopped as the hammer cocked back on the pistol Merle pointed towards Daryl's chest. Daryl's jaw clenched as Merle waved the gun back towards the ground. "Until she returns little brother. Get comfortable. You're stayin'."


End file.
